Franco Morbidelli has confirmed his move to the VR46 MotoGP team for 2025, with the 29-year-old currently 12th in the world championship, with best results being fourth in the sprint race and fifth in the Desmosedici Grand Prix.
VR46 Racing has confirmed the signing of Franco Morbidelli for the 2025 MotoGP season. The former Yamaha rider will join forces with Fabio di Giannantonio to form a new line-up for Valentino Rossi’s team. 2020 MotoGP runner-up Morbidelli will switch to VR46 on a one-year contract with the Pramac Ducati team. He will continue to ride a GP24 Desmosedici, while his teammate di Giannantonio will receive an upgraded factory GP25 after signing a direct contract with Ducati. The move comes as three-time Grand Prix champion Marco Bezzecchi leaves VR46 to join Jorge Martin’s Aprilia team for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
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Franco Morbidelli: “What a beautiful story! I am delighted to announce that I have signed with the VR46 Racing Team for the 2025 season. I will definitely feel at home here and I really want to perform well and repay the trust shown in me and the entire crew with good results. I want to go back and celebrate again with the whole team. A huge thank you to the entire VR46 Rider Academy and my management. Vale, Carlo, Uccio, Albi and Gianluca. We are all friends and key figures in the VR46 reality. I can’t wait to start this new adventure with you all.”
MotoGP: About Franco Morbidelli
The Italian rider won the Moto2 title with Marc Viders in 2017 before moving to MotoGP on a Honda with the Belgian team the following year. Morbidelli joined Petronas SRT (Yamaha) in 2019, where he won three races and finished runner-up in the championship in 2020. However, his last MotoGP podium came in mid-2021 when he replaced Maverick Vinales at Monster Yamaha.
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This year, Morbidelli switched to Ducati factory Pramac machinery, but missed all pre-season testing due to an injury sustained in a Superbike race at Portimao in January. Despite the setback, the 29-year-old rider finished fourth in the sprint race and fifth in the Grand Prix to move into 12th place in the World Championship standings.
VR46 currently sits fifth in the constructors’ standings, ahead of KTM’s factory team but two places behind fellow Ducati satellite team Gresini.
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